Fairy Tail: A long forgotten Story
by Veristia97
Summary: After the Daimatu Enbu a new mission awaits Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray, Gajeel and Levy. Together with Happy and Lily, the six mages stuble upon a long kept secret. They find out about Masaaki, Takao, Mizuuki and their guild whose fight against a powerful evil disappeard from the records of time. Now it is time to see what has happened all these years ago, long before Fairy Tail.
1. Chapter 1 - A new Adventure

Fairy Tail: A Long Forgotten Story

Before you read:

Hello, I am Veristia97 and the author of Fairy Tail: A long forgotten Story. This is now the second time I start uploading this story. However, it is still my first time and I would be glad to hear some feedback of you out there. The first chapters may appear a little bit boring but I promise you that there will be enough action for you. One last thing, my english is not the best, I am not a native speaker so please be gentle ;)

Now, to the Story:

Welcome to the world of Fairy Tail: A long forgotten Story.

This story takes place in Hiro Mashima's universe of Fairy Tail.

The events of A Long Forgotten Story take place between the events

of the Grand Magic Tournament and the Tartarus Arc.

They do not affect the main story in any way.

The beginning of a new adventure

It was summer in Magnolia city. The sun was high in the sky and the heat made everyone exhausted. Lucy was standing in front of the request board of the magic guild Fairy Tail. Her eyes wandering through all the different requests but nothing seemed to catch her interest. Natsu and Happy were standing at the bar watching her from the distance.

"Na, na, na… what are you doing Natsu? Stalking our little Lucy? How rude of you!" Mira said suddenly from behind the bar. The white haired girl gave the Fire-Dragon Slayer a playful look.

"Nah…" he said bored and laid his head down on the bar table. Mira raised her eyebrows and looked at Happy, the blue, talking cat and Natsu's best friend.

"He is just bored. Lucy is kind of strange in the last time… She hasn't picked a single mission for two weeks now and when we ask her to take one with us she only says something like 'nah…' and turns away." Said the blue cat and pointed to Lucy who just turned around, walked to the closest table and sat down, her head on her hands. "See?" said Happy and looked back to Mira.

"Hmm…" The white haired girl puts down the jar she was just cleaning. "Have you asked what's wrong with her?"

"Of course we did…" answered Natsu and sat back up. "But she says she doesn't know it herself. She is just not in the mood… or something like that."

He looked at the blond girl for a moment and turned back to Mira. "Can you do something?"

"I'll try!" she said and left the bar. Natsu and Happy followed her after a moment and the three went over to Lucy's table. "Hey Lucy!" said the white haired girl happily as always.

"Hey Mira…" answered the Stellar Spirit Mage with a tired voice and looked at her for a moment.

"You know, Natsu and Happy are worried about you, is something wrong? You know you can tell me everything." Said Mira and leaned over to Lucy. "Everything…" she whispered playful and blinked seductive. Lucy went a little red.

"It's nothing like that…" she said and pushed Mira back. She sighted and let her eyes wander through the guild hall. "I don't know…" she sayed after a moment while she watched the other guild members. Everything was really quiet, which was a rare sight at Fairy Tail. In one corner of the guild hall, Cana, Lisanna and the Raijinshuu were chatting with Laxus. A few tables to the side, Makao and Wabaka were talking about the old days while Romeo was doing his homework. On the other side she saw Gajeel sleeping while Lily and Levy were chatting next to him. Normally Lucy loved these calm moments in the guild but right now she really whished it back to the loud and noisy place it normally was.

With Natsu picking up fights with everyone and getting smashed by Erza. With Juvia trying her luck on Gray, who one again lost his clothing somewhere in the guild. With little Asuka playing around in the guildhall, worrying her parents Alzack and Bisca to death and everything. But this was not the case today.

"I just…" she continued but stopped as she actually didn't know what she wanted to say in first place. Instead she did an undefined hand gesture but Mira seemed to understand what she wanted to say. Luckily the door to the guild went open and Erza entered the hall. Mira started to smile and looked at Natsu. She stood up and raised her voice.

"What?!" she called and everyone's eyes wandered to their table. Natsu looked back at her confused. "Natsu, Natsu. How could you? I really didn't think you were that kind of guy!" she said reproachful.

"What? I didn't do anything!" Natsu said shocked and Happy immediately supported him and said his casual "Aye!" Lucy looked at Mira confused but she only smiled and looked behind Natsu.

"You did…what?" said a sharp voice from behind him which made Natsu shiver. He turned around. Behind him stood Erza. The red haired mage had put on her Armor and looked down on the pink haired mage with an evil look in her eyes.

"I swear I did nothing!" said Natsu and one could hear the panic in his voice. In a swift movement Mira held her fingers into Lucy's glass of water, pulled them out and splashed a few drops on Lucy's face.

"Look!" said Mira and pointed to Lucy. Erza looked at her and saw the water drops on her face, mistaking them for tears. The look in her eyes became cold as ice.

"You…" she said, her voice sharp as a blade. Natsu's eyes widened as she lung out to hit him in his face. Natsu immediately dodged her attack and ran past her to the door but she chased him. Mira began to laugh as he jumped over a few tables and the rest of the guild joined in.

"Stay where you are!" Erza called and summoned a sword. A swift swing of her sword split the table Natsu stood on just a second ago in half and made him scream like a little girl. He looked over his shoulder to check how far she was away, just to run into somebody and fall to the ground.

"What the?!..." the other person said. Natsu shook his head and opened his eyes. In front of him Gray was sitting on the ground, holding his head.

The Ice Mage opened his eyes and looked at Natsu.

"Idiot! Why did you run into me? Snarled Natsu at the him, totally forgetting about Erza who was just chasing after him

"Me?" he responded as angry as Natsu. "You were the one who ran into me!" he said and the two stood up, staring at each other angrily but before they could actually pick a fight Erza reached them.

"You..." she called and the two Mages turned towards her.

"Oh shit...!" the two mages called with expressions of absolute fear on their faces. A second later Erza rammed into them and the whole guild began to laugh, Lucy as well. As Erza started beating up the two unfortunate mages the blond girl turned towards Mira who also watched them smiling. As she noticed Lucy's look she smiled at her "No problem." She said and went back to work with a twinkle in her eye.

A few minutes later Erza was done with the two and dragged them in front of Lucy. She let go of them and watched them angrily. "Apologize…!" she said with a sharp voice.

"I-I-I am v-very sorry..." the two said at the same time and made the whole guild burst out in laughter. Erza looked at Lucy confused as she did not understand what was going on.

"Don't mind." Lucy said to her. "But, thank you!" She stood up and hugged a surprised Erza while the boys stood up, silently cursing the red haired Mage. They sat down at the table and Mira gave them something to drink, together with a silent apology. As Lucy explained Erza what happened she became red like her hair and started apologizing to the two boys. Sometime later Levy, Gajeel and Lily joined them at the table.

There was a constant coming and going in the guild now and a few hours later the door opened once again and Master Makarov entered the guild.

"Oh, you are back already Master?" Mira said surprised as she saw him. "What did the Council want from you this time? She asked him.

"They had a request which we shall take care of." He answered and looked around. His eyes stopped at the small group of Erza, Natsu and the others. "Perfect! You are all already here." He said and went over to them, sitting down at their table with clasped fingers.

"The Council want us to investigate in a specific matter. Two weeks ago an archeological party found something inside an old temple in the mountains near Crocus. They did not come far enough to see what it is but the amount of magical power which is emitted from there is so vast that they consider is a serious threat to the civilians at Crocus. They want you to go there to find the source of the magical power and to destroy it if needed" He said calm and looked at the mages.

"We won't disappoint you, master!" say Erza serious and looked at the others. "Yeah, we got this!" agreed Gray smiling and the other nodded as well.

"Good." Said Makarov relieved. "I wish you the best of luck. Let's hope you won't need it!"

"Thank you!" said Erza and the mage stood up. Natsu stretched and grinned all over his face. "Finally something to do again!" he said and looked to the others. They nodded and together they headed for the guilds entrance and into a new adventure.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Storyteller

The Storyteller

"When did they say they would come?" asked Gray as he stared into his drink. Lucy leaned forwards to catch a glimpse on the clock on the wall.

"In about ten minutes." She said and leaned back. It had been two days since the group of mages had left Magnolia and they had arrived at Crocus just three hours ago. When they came out of the train a young man had waited there for them. They should come to a small bar in the outskirts of Crocus, where they would hopefully not wake that much attention, where they would meet the leader of the archaeological party, Johan.

"Why did we come this early then?" asked Natsu bored. "We could have done a lot of other stuff in the meantime…"

"Because if we would have done that, we would have been too late for the meeting here since you would have just run of or something like that!" responded Erza with a tone in her voice which tolerated no dissent. Natsu let his head sink down on the table again and muttered something but did not question it further.

A couple of minutes later the door opened and a tall, bearded man entered. He looked around and went over to the mages as he saw them. He wore grey trousers and boots, together with a brown shirt and vest. His beard and his hair were grey as well and his skin slightly brown and his body muscular from the work in the sun.

He stepped to the mages and Erza stood up. "You must be Mr. Johan, am I right?" she asked him.

"Correct, Ms. Scarlett. It is a pleasure." He said and shook her hand. "To meet all of you of course!" he added and knocked on the table before sitting down. He gave the waitress a look and raised a finger. She nodded and disappeared behind the bar from where she brought him a drink. "Thank you." He said and then turned to the mages.

"So… about the mission." Erza said and Johan nodded. "Yes, the mission. About five weeks ago a young man came to the institute. He told us he came from across the mountain range and was on his way to Crocus as he came across something in the mountains. He said it looked like a glowing gate, far up on a mountain but as he turned towards it, it disappeared. His description was quite detailed and from what he told us we were able to locate the gate. We knew for quite some time that there had to be an entrance somewhere on the mountain since there is an ancient piece of architecture at its side. Unreachable for us, but somehow the people had to come all the way up there in the past. We decided that we would take a look and about three weeks ago we headed to the mountain. With the boy's description it did not take us that long to find what he had called a gate. It was a magical seal which was covering the entrance to complex. We managed to break it and headed inside. In the beginning there was nothing to worry about even though we felt remains of magic. We thought it was from the magical seal but I am not so sure about it anymore.

We'll come to that later. The temple consists out of two great halls, connected with a stairway. The first one is not very spectacular in comparison. The second one however is different. The second hall ends right at a gaping chasm. We were not able to see the ground of it or anything that would tell us how deep it goes down there. However, there is a bridge over to the other side. Callan and I went over to the other side and there it happened. There were two large doors on the other side. About twenty meters or something like that. We tried to push them open but the moment they moved just a little we felt this overwhelming magical force. I stumbled back and I swear I felt something moving under the stone. I grabbed Callan, we went straight out of there and to the Council. I do not know what is in there but I have never felt something comparable…" he shook his head and drank.

"You said you had felt remains of magic from the very beginning." Said Levy and Johan nodded. "You said you don't think they were from the seal. What do you think they came from?"

"A battle." He answered. "Magic battles leave traces behind, in the ground for example. If two powerful mages clash you can sometimes feel the remains of their magical power even after years to some degree. For example, at Magnolia. When your first Master Mavis casted her first Fairy Law against the bone dragon. You can still feel the last remains of that magic there if you look very carefully since it was an extremely powerful spell. I believe there was a battle at this temple, so powerful that the remains of the magic were burnt into the mountain itself and remained there ever since…" he finished emptied his drink.

"If you still want to go there I can show you the way. I can show you the way to the bridge but I do not go further. This is no place for people like me."

The mages exchanged a few looks. Lucy and Levy seemed a little scared but Natsu had a big smile on his face.

"Of course we'll do it!" he said and stood up. "I'm all fired up!"

"I'll go too!" said Gajeel and stood up as well. Gray and Erza exchanged a short look and stood up. "Count us in!" they said and looked to Lucy and Levy. They rolled their eyes and stood up. "Okay, we're in it as well."

"Very well." Said Johan and stood up. "I will see you tomorrow at sunrise then. We will meet here again and I will bring you there. See you then!" He took up his glass and went over to the barmaid. Before he left he nodded to the mages a last time, then he went through the door.

"I think would have been better off if you would have taken Mira or Laxus instead of me…" said Lucy after a moment. "I agree with you. Laxus and Mira would have been better suited for this than the two of us…" admitted Levy.

"Maybe, but I am sure you will be of much use as well!" said Erza and smiled at the two of them.

"Let's hope so… But right now I am just tired. I go to my room. See you guys tomorrow!" responded the blond magician. "Yeah I'll go too." Agreed Levy. "See you!"

The next morning. Levy and Lucy were the only two people who were not totally tired. "Why did you stay at the bar till 3 o' clock and drink if you knew that we had to be here early?" Levy rebuked the boys and Erza as they started complaining about the time.

"Well… I don't know…" answered Gray for the group, still half asleep.

"Idiot!" said Levy and slapped his head as Johan came around the corner. "Good morning!" he said as he reached the mages.

"Good morning, we're really sorry. They haven't really slept much tonight…" Lucy said for them and Johan smiled. "Well I already thought so. That's why I rented a carriage. Come with me." He turned around and the mages followed him.

"Luckers…" Levy whispered to them as they mounted. The two girls sat down at the front with Johan while the others laid down in the back. "Heya!" Johan called and the horses went forwards into the direction of the mountains. "So…" he said and the three started to talk for the rest of the time.

As the sun stood high in the sky they reached the place Johan was talking about the other day. A few tents and tables were still there. Left behind by the archaeological party. Even here the mages could feel the magical force the elderly man was talking about.

"Follow me." He said as everyone went of the carriage. He went over to two large rocks and stretched out his hand. The air began to vibrate and a simple magical seal appeared. "We closed it off extemporary." He said as the seal disappeared and the entrance appeared in front of them. The magical force became more powerful instantly. "Even now it is already as strong as some mages…" Levy said surprised as they went through a large curved entrance. Inside it was dark they only saw silhouettes.

"Natsu? Can you make us some light please?" Lucy asked. The pink faired mage immediately raised his hand and set it ablaze.

"To your right on the ground is a little brazier. You can hold the fire in there." Said Johan and pointed next to Natsu on the ground. The mage held his burning hand inside and the material inside began to burn. Suddenly another brazier began to burn and another, and another until the whole room was bright. It was a large round hall. The ceiling was held by 8 wide pillars of stone and on the walls were old reliefs and texts. On the other side was a large stairway which lead to the second hall.

"Follow me." Said Johan and went across to the stairs. The others followed him and shortly after they reached the second hall. Unlike the first one it was not round. The wall behind them was but the room opened towards the large abyss and the natural cave walls. On the other side, the bridge and the gates. By now the magical force was already stronger as Lucy's and it was still getting stronger the closer they came.

"So, here I will leave you alone." Said Johan and held out his hand. "Good luck, I hope you won't need it." He said and shook everyone's hand.

"Thank you!" Erza said. The bearded man nodded and went the stairs back down. The mages exchanged short looks, then they went over to the bridge. In front of the door they stopped a moment.

"Are you ready?" asked Gray and looked at the others.

"Yeah, let's go!" said Gajeel grinning and the rest nodded as well. They laid their hands on the cold stone doors, activated their own magical powers and pushed them open. The doors swung open and a bright golden light radiated against them. A second later they felt the huge magical force. It was by far stronger then the power of Erza, of Jellal, of Master Makarov or even Hades. Defensively the mages raised their hands to cover their eyes but the light faded away already, just like the magical force. They uncovered their eyes and looked at what was in front of them. It was a huge, at least hundred meters long hallway with mighty columns holding its roof. Large reliefs covered the walls and daylight shone into it through high windows. But the most impressive thing was a huge golden crystal, on a high pedestal in the middle of the room. It was emitting the golden light which had become more of a glimmering by now.

"Is that…?" Levy asked in astonishment and Lucy nodded. "It seems it is."

Inside the crystal was a young man. His long blond hair was tied together. His arms were stretched to the sides and his face was totally calm as if he would be in a deep slumber. His upper body was naked, he had multiple scars all over his torso and arms but the most noticeable were the markings on his arms, like tattoos. Around his body the crystal was a little bit twisted which made it look like the crystal would be forming a coat around him.

"What is this?" Lucy whispered and slowly walked towards the crystal. The others followed her a few seconds later.

"Lucy?" Levy asked suddenly with a worried voice. "Lucy is everything alright?" she asked afraid. "Your eyes…" she said, because the blond haired mages eyes suddenly began to glow golden like the crystal. The girl didn't pay any attention and walked towards the crystal. "I…can…hear…you…" she whispered silently.

"LUCY!" Natsu yelled as the reached out for the glowing stone. He tried to grab her arm but his reach was too short. Lucy had already touched the crystal. Suddenly her body started to glow golden as well. After a second she regained consciousness and pulled her hand back. She held her chest and breathed heavily.

"Lucy, are you ok?" Natsu asked her worried as she staggered back to them.

"I-I don't know…" she mumbled silently as if she just woke up from a deep slumber.

What happened?" Erza asked as everybody surrounded the blond mage. Lucy looked at her for a moment as if she tried to remember who the red haired mage was. She looked to the man in the crystal.

"It was him…" she said silently.

"What do you mean?" Levy asked her confused.

"I… saw him…" Lucy responded. "Or was I… No I saw … His memories… as if… I had been there with him… he…" she made a small break and made a decision. She turned to the others. "I cannot explain it. Please trust me this one time. He is important, something with this place, with the magic. Please, we need to listen to him…" she said calm and looked at her friends. A moment they didn't react, then Natsu nodded and walked up next to her, followed by the others.

"Thank you…" she said and they turned towards the crystal. They reached out, took a deep breath and touched its surface with their hands. Their body began to glow, they closed their eyes and hundreds and thousands of impressions rushed over them like a crushing wave.


	3. Chapter 3 - A share of Memories

A share of memory

"As the flow of impressions slowly became less, Natsu Lucy and the others slowly opened their eyes again. They blinked a few times and looked around.

"What the..." Gray said as they mustered their surroundings. They were not longer standing in the hallway in front of the crystal, but in the middle of a small port town. The sun was already slowly going down at the horizon. The last light daylight spread its warmth on the land while a soft wind blew from the ocean, bringing the salty small of the sea to them.

"Where are we Lucy...?" asked Happy Lucy confused and landed on her shoulder.

"I-I don't know..." she admitted and looked around, searching for any hint on where they could be. It was a casual port town, even though something seemed odd. It seemed much older than the other towns, yet still new. Beside that there was nothing special. She went on the street and turned to the sea.

"Oh my…" she said and her eyes widened. "What is it?" Natsu asked and the others went to her. They looked down the street, then they saw him. About a hundred meters away from them was the young man they just saw in the crystal.

The scars which were all over his body had disappeared together with the patterns. He wore clean blue trousers, together with a pair of black boots and a black shirt. Around his wrists he wore black leather wristbands, on his trousers hung a silver chain and around his neck a necklace with a silver, ornamented cross. He was walking with his hands crossed behind his head and a smile on his face. He was talking to another person on his right. His companion was taller than he was, about 1.95 and had short, brown hair. He wore black trousers and boots together with a shite shirt and a coat which showed a blue bird pattern.

The Fairy Tail mages exchanged a short look, then Erza stepped forwards and walked up to the two men. "Excuse me?" she said but they didn't pay any attention to her and walked past her.

"Ah, I missed this little town, ya' know?" the blond haired man said to his companion with a happy voice as he passed Erza and the others by. The taller man looked at him and rose one eyebrow.

"Yeah, me too..." he said and gave the blond man a knowing look, "but I'm pretty sure that you did not really miss the town that much, not even the guild. It's more that you missed a certain someone, hun, Masaaki?" he said with a mischievous smile. Masaaki's face turned slightly red before he began to laugh loudly.

"Is it really so obvious, Takao?" he asked after a moment but the look he earned by his friend was enough of an answer.

The two men continued to walk through the town and left the mages behind. Erza's face turned deep red from anger and she ran after the two, stopping just a few meters in front of them.

"Hey, you!" she called and pointed at them but the two men did not notice her. Instead they walked straight into her. Or at least they should have but instead they simply passed through her as if she were a ghost. Erza looked confused and turned around looking at them.

"Wh-What was that?" she said as her friends caught up to her and looked at Levy.

The blue haired girl thought for a moment while everyone else waited for an answer. "Well... one explanation would be that we are trapped in some kind of illusion spell…" she said contemplative. Then she shook her head. "No this cannot be an illusion spell; this exceeds everything I have ever heard of. It is absolutely perfect! I mean, the warmth of the sun, the feeling of the wind, the scent. Even small things like the shadows of the flowers are perfect…" she finished and pointed on the flowers on the side of the street. A few moments later she knitted her eyebrows.

"However…" she said silently and the Mags looked back at her. "A few months ago I read a book about ancient kinds of magic, which are mostly forgotten by now. There was one of them…" she thought a moment about it.

"They called it 'Memory Share'. It is an ancient magic, even older than your Dragon Slayer Magic, which allowed the user to share their memories with other people by having physical contact. The other person would then be able to experience the same things the user did, like a bystander and since we actually had physical contact with him in some way this could actually be the real thing." she finished her explanation and the group became silent.

"And how do we get out of here?" Gray asked after a moment and looked at the blue haired girl.

"I don't know…" she admitted. "But I'd say we follow those two, maybe we can find something out. If I am right, he had reasons why he wanted to show this. I think we should find out what happened. Maybe then we will find out how to get out of here."

"You are right..." Erza said after a moment, "let's follow them!" They nodded and then ran after the two men, who had already gone quite far away. They caught up as the two stopped at the other side of the town, in front of a large bright brown wooden building. It was two floors high and at the end it divided in two wings. One to the left, one to the right. At the point where it divided stood a large tower. The entrance was made of two tall and heavy wooden doors which showed the same pattern which was on the tall man's coat. On the door arc stood the words "Mage Guild: Peristia Heart."

"Finally home..." Masaaki sighted after a moment as the two walked along the way to the doors. They placed their hands on one door each and exchanged a short look.

"Ready Takao?" Masaaki asked grinning.

"Ready!" Takao responded. "Push!" he called and the two pushed open the doors, which slammed against the walls with a loud crushing sound.

"We're back everyone!" Masaaki called as the guild members turned towards them. As they recognized their friends, they greeted them loudly. Some of them came over to welcome them personally. The Fairy Tail Mages continued following them.

"This is kind of like at home don't you think so?" said Lucy smiling and looked at Natsu who began to smile. "Yeah, you are right!" he agreed.

The inside of the building was a very bright place. A lot of windows were placed in the walls which let in the slowly fading daylight. From the doors one could see through the whole guild, from its entry to the large pedestal at the back where the building parted into its wings and the tower. Two wide stairways lead up to the upper floor, one from each side. On the walls of the tower hung two large request boards. In front of the pedestal was a large bar and in front of that, above the large guild symbol on the floor, stood many long tables where the members were gathering around.

Masaaki and Takao had already sat down on at the table, surrounded by the others. One little boy pushed through to them and smiled at them.

"Oh, hey Viole!" Takao greeted him as he noticed the brown haired boy.

"Hello Takao!" he responded and looked at him with an eager look in his eyes. "How was your mission? Did you fight against monsters again?" he asked excited, waiting for interesting stories. Masaaki and Takao exchanged a short look, then Masaaki began to laugh.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but this time we did nothing like that..." he said to the interested young guild member. The boy and some of the other young mages let out a sound of disappointment.

"You know, we actually had to escort someone, from Hargeon Port all the way up to Crocus. Can you guess who it was, Viole?" Takao asked the boy. He knitted his eyebrows and started to think. Behind Takao's back Masaaki put two fingers on his head.

"A demon maybe?" he asked and Takao began to laugh together with the guild. "No, no demon, try again." This time Masaaki opened his quite long hair and held his hang as if a women was carrying a handbag. Then he drew the shape of a crown on his head.

"A princess?" Viole said and Takao nodded smiling. The guild began to laugh and Masaaki tied his hair together again fast.

"Yeah that's right, we were escorting the princess to the capital, and not just that, but also a large treasure." he said with a blink in his eyes.

"How does she look like? Is she really as beautiful as everyone says? Did someone try to attack or rob you?" Viole asked interested.

"Well, yeah she was quite beautiful, but in my eyes the stories are..." Masaaki began but was interrupted by his partner.

"Of course Masaaki does not think she is even close to 'her', you know?" Takao said with a blink in his eye and everyone began to laugh as they understood what he aiming at. In the meantime, Masaaki's face turned deep red, what made them laugh even more. The laughter was suddenly interrupted by a loud crushing sound. Everyone stopped immediately and turned into the direction where the sound came from.

"What happened?" Happy asked curious. "Someone entered." Said Lucy, who felt a strong magical force.

The group divided and created a path to the two men who had already stood up. They looked to the person who now stood in front of them and bowed down.

"We are back, Master Hisao!" the two of them said with a respectful voice.

Master Hisao was a tall, old man with short white hair and a short white beard. He wore a long white coat with the black guild sigil on its back. Three little silver chains were attached to each arm and a golden line went along the edges of the coat. The guild master mustered them with his old, wise eyes.

"You are early, I did not expect you to be here before next week, Masaaki, Takao... How did you handle the mission?" he asked them with his deep voice.

"It was no problem at all, sir!" they told him as they rose up again. "We were not confronted with either attacks or robberies during the whole journey, not even once. Because of this we arrived very early at Crocus. The king gives you his best regards, and thanks you for your help, that's what he wanted us to tell you." Masaaki told him and waited for his reaction. Master Hisao mustered them for a moment, then he began to smile.

"I did not expect anything less from two of my best mages. Well done, I'm proud of you, young ones!" he said smiling and the two mages began to smile as well. "Welcome home you two." he finished and nodded at them before he turned around and went off to the guilds tower.

Suddenly the world around the two mages flickered and they found themselves behind Takao.

"What happened?" Gajeel asked surprised and looked at the small blue haired girl.

"I think we just changed the perspective…" she said.

Takao and Masaaki sat down as they heard a snapping sound. They looked up to the pedestal where Master Hisao was looking down on them. Besides Takao nobody had seemed to have heard that.

"Takao, I wish to speak you later, please come to my office when you have some time free. Celebrate your coming back, but before you go to your wing come to me" he finished and before the mage could say something there was another snapping sound and the white haired man turned around and went up the tower. Takao looked after him for a moment, then he turned back to Viole.

"So, where were we?" Takao said to go back to the topic they just had.

"Masaaki has a crush on Mizuki!" Viole called and the whole guild began to laugh loud while Masaaki's face turned red again.

"Right! By the way," Takao said to his friend suddenly, "didn't you forget something?" he asked and gave him a questioning look. Masaaki's eyes widened as he understood what his friend meant. He jumped up immediately.

"Nah, I mean…" he started but Takao interrupted him immediately.

"Just go!" he called and the blond haired mage ran through the guild building to its back door. Takao smiled as he looked after his friend, as he was out of sight he turned around to the other guild members again. "So, the princess..." he said and went on where they had stopped before and the world flickered again.


	4. Chapter 4 - Bright Night, Dark Omens

Bright is the Night, Dark are the Omens

"It seems we're back with Masaaki again…" said Lucy the flickering stopped. They were on a small mountain ledge behind the guild. About fifty meters below them they saw Masaaki running along the small path which led up the mountain. The color of the sky had already begun to change into a light orange. It wouldn't take long until the sun would disappear behind the horizon now. The mages watched him for a moment.

"So… why is he showing this to us?" asked Gajeel after a minute.

"I don't know… I guess we're going to see 'her' soon." Responded Levy without taking her eyes of the blond mage who suddenly stopped and looked out to the ocean.

"Look, he is casting his magic!" said Lucy as she felt his magical power activating. Masaaki had closed his eyes and had activated his powers. After a second small golden lightnings crackled over his body. He opened his eyes and dashed forwards, creating a little shockwave behind him.

"It seems he uses it to increase his physical strength…" Lucy said surprised as the group watched the lightning mage rush up the path towards a large ledge right above the guild.

"That is quite a good idea…" admitted Erza. "Fusing his lightning magic with his muscles, it should be able to drastically increase his power over a short period of time. Depending on how well he can control it…"

"Well, you can tell Laxus when we come back." Said Gray and looked towards the ledge Masaaki was running to. "He is heading over there. We should go too I guess."

After a few minutes Masaaki and the Fairy Tail mages arrived at the mountain ledge. The sun had finally touched the horizon and painted the sky and the sea deep orange. From this place one had a great view down on the guild, the city and the ocean. The blond mage stopped, let his magic disappear and began to smile. In front of him, at the edge, stood a blond girl. She wore a black skirt with black boots, together with a white blouse and a black vest. The long blond hair which fell over her shoulder was wavering in the soft wind. Masaaki walked over and sat down next to her, letting his legs dangle in the air.

"You are late…" Mizuki said smiling and looked at him with her gray-blue eyes. The young man began to smile.

"Yeah I know…" he admitted. He looked in her eyes and shrug his shoulders. "The best comes last." He said smiling and Mizuki giggled. She sat down next to him and looked at the horizon where the sun was disappearing behind the waves.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said after a moment. The deep orange, yellow and red of the sky reflected in her eyes as Masaaki mustered her.

"Yes, yes it it…" he said without taking just a single look at the sun or the sky. Erza, Lucy and Levy exchanged a short look. Masaaki took a deep breath his hand moved towards hers, he bit on his lips.

"Come on…" whispered Lucy silently but the lightning mage sighted silently and closed his eyes for a moment, then he turned away and looked at the horizon.

The two mages started talking about anything that came to their mind, while the sun set behind the waves and the moon slowly rose up into the night sky. Masaaki told her about his last mission. How they escorted the princess and her people all the way from Hargeon Port to Crocus. How the king had welcomed them and thanked them for their service and about their journey back to the guild. Mizuki told him what had happened in the meantime at the guild and about her progress in her magic. Soon the last daylight had vanished and only the bright light of the full moon shone down on them. As they had nothing left to talk about they sat for quite some time silently next to each other. After some time Masaaki slowly pushed his hand towards hers and she did as well. The two touched and for some time they sat like this until Mizuki turned to him.

"We should go back to the guild; don't you think so?" she asked him with a light smile on her face.

Masaaki needed a moment until he seemed back in this world and nodded. 2yeah, we should. I'm sure Takao and the others are already wandering where to two of us are." He said smiling and stood up. He gave Mizuki a hand and pulled her up. She stroked over her skirt and then the two walked down towards the guild. Just as they left the ledge a cold wind breeze blew from the east which made the Fairy Tail mages shiver. Mizuki didn't seem to notice it but Masaaki stopped and turned his head around, directly looking at them. His eyes went over them and they saw that a worried look lay in his light golden eyes.

"Masaaki?" Mizuki asked after a moment, interrupting his thoughts. He turned back around and she mustered him with a questioning look.

"Ah, nothing…" he said and caught up to her. A moment later the world flickered again.

Takao was sitting at the tables in the guild, together with the other guild members. Everyone had a few empty jars in front of them and they were talking loudly while some others were singing old songs. As one of them stood up to get the next round of drinks Takao stood up as well.

"I think I'll pass guys." He said and the others let out a sound of disappointment. "Yeah I know..." he said and made a sorry look on his face. "But I'm getting tired by now. I guess I'll be heading for my room now. When Masaaki returns and there is something new, make sure you tell me first tomorrow!" he said and the people at his table began to laugh. He knocked at the table and walked towards the left staircase. On the first floor he then walked towards the entrance to the left wing, looked over his shoulder and went for the entrance to the tower. He opened the door and started to climb the spiral staircase in the middle to the office of the master which appeared to be right beneath the roof, above the library. As he raised his hand to knock Master Hisao already called him inside. During the day the room would have been very bright with a lot of windows and a balcony, facing the sea. The ground was covered by a large carpet which showed the guild sign and only left one place bare, the door to the stairs. Between the windows on the sides stood large bookshelves and right in front of Takao stood the large and heavy, wooden table and a big armchair, Master Hisao stood next to it and looked at a map on the table.

"You wanted to talk with me Master?" Takao asked the white haired man.

"Yes, please take a seat…" said Master Hsiao and pointed on one of the three smaller chairs in front of his desk while he sat down as well. He mustered Takao for a moment and placed his elbows on the desk and folding his hand in front of his mouth.

After a minute he broke the silence. "I wanted to talk about your last mission Takao," he said and leaned back. "Tell me about everything that happened during that time."

"Well… as you know, we left the guild about one month ago." Said Takao after a moment. "We went down to the port and asked the sailors if someone was on their way to Hargeon. We found one man who agreed to take us with him. We set sail the same evening and helped out on deck. We had the wind in our backs and arrived five days later, two days before the princess. We then strolled through the bars and streets asking questions about the situation at the city. We wanted to find out if somebody had heard something about someone planning to attack the princess or had seen somebody suspicious. On top we told everywhere them that we were escorting her and told different routes which we would take to Crocus." He made a small break to see if Master Hisao had any questions.

"And did you find out anything?" he asked after a moment.

"No, nothing." Takao responded. "No one who was suspicious, no one who seemed to know something. We talked with the commander of the guards at Hargeon. Even the streets were totally safe. He told us that since two weeks no incidents happened on the streets to Hargeon. It was as if every bandit had suddenly gone to do something different, he said."

Master Hisao nodded slowly. "Go on." He said.

"Two days later the princess arrived together with her guards and the treasure they carried with the. We joined them and departed about three hours later. We took the road to the west until we met the river. We followed it for two days and then headed up north to Era. From there we went on closer to the pass at the feet of the mountain range and arrived ten days later at Crocus. Without any incidents. The streets were safe, nothing to do for us." Takao explained and mustered the old man. Master Hisao nodded and made a hand gesture telling Takao to go on.

"At Crocus we were invited to the castle. The king thanked us for our service and told us how proud he was about the loyalty of the magic guilds to the crown and sends you his gratitude. We stayed a night there and then left for Old Fort. From there we took the road by the sea down to Kitiro and arrived today." He finished his report and fell silent. Master Hisao's eyes wandered off to the map and some letters to his left which he began to study again. After a few minutes Takao seemed to grow nervous.

"Master, what is all of this about?" he finally asked the old mage. Master Hisao sighted and leaned his head back at the chair, looking at the ceiling.

"I've got a bad feeling, Takao…" he began and suddenly he sounded very tired. "I feel something approaching… it is coming and it will bring a war which's extend I cannot predict…"

"Do you think it is Zeref?" Takao asked after moment but Hisao shook his head.

"No, this feels different then the last time. Zeref is definitely dangerous but this feels… different..." he said thoughtful and looked back at the dark haired mage in front of him. He pulled the map in front of him.

"If Zeref and his demons were to march against us I could tell." He said and stroke over the map. "My magic tells me this much. I can feel it when dark, powerful magic like his gathers. He feels like the hours before a summer storm! You feel the pressure, the wind… You hear the thunder and feel it coming. Where it is coming!"

"This time however… it doesn't feel like a storm Takao." Explained the guilds master calm. "It is a mist. Slowly wavering around our feet, ready to suck us up. I do not know where it is coming from, it feels like it is everywhere." Master Hisao made a break and stood up. He walked out on the balcony and looked over the town. Takao followed him.

"Right now we have the silence before the storm. I you will have not noticed it to this extend yet. Everything has stopped moving in the shadows. They are waiting Takao. Waiting for something to make its move… and when it does, hell will break loose on the country…" he finished, watched the town and listened to the silent sound of the people of the guild. Takao walked up to him and looked him in the eye.

"What do you need us to do?"


	5. Chapter 5 - An Act of Convincing

An act of convincing

"Where are we now?" asked Natsu confused and looked around. "It feels like I know this place…" They were in a large white room. On three sides stood long tables, in the middle was a small podium. The light of the sun shone through the about ten meters high windows and a soft breeze blew through room.

Erza looked out of one of the large Windows. "I know where we are! We're at Era. This is the Council's Headquarters." The door opened and a light breeze blew through the room. Master Hisao entered the room. He looked around and went over to one of the tables on the long sides of the room where he sat down. His hand went into one of the pockets of his coat and he pulled a small black stone out of it. He turned it in hands for a few moments before he put it back. After a few minutes he stood up and walked to the window. He leaned a bit out and looked at the sun.

"At least they should be here soon…" he sighted. Like on a command the doors opened and a couple of men came inside. Hisao mustered them as they walked over to their seats. Whenever their eyes met he nodded at them as a greeting. One of the men however didn't sit down but came over to the window. Master Hisao smiled as he recognized him. The other mage was much younger than the old master of Peristia Heart. He had slightly darker skin and had short black hair and a black beard. Around his neck was a silver necklace which showed the symbol of the Ten Great Holy Mages.

"Greetings, Master Hisao!" said the man. "It's been quite some time…"

"Indeed it was, Master Aljuni…" Hisao responded and they shook hands. "How is your guild going?" he asked him interested.

"Surprisingly smoothly if you consider the situation with Zeref and everything." He answered. "So, did you hear something new from the three?"

Hisao shook his head. "No not yet. Last time we talked was the day after I departed from Kitiro. They were on their way to the east, on a trading ship with course to Hargeon. I will talk to them either this evening when we know how the Council and the other masters will react."

"How do you see the chances?"

"Not very good. I have nothing that will definitely prove my thesis. On the other hand, I believe many masters trust me and I have known the chairman for a long time. I had foreseen the events revolving around Zeref and they didn't listen to me. They know the price they payed, I hope they will not have forgotten it." Explained the old man and his younger colleague nodded slowly.

"Regardless of how they will decide. You have my support!" he said smiling. "I will not let my old guild down!"

"Thank you…" said Master Hisao. "We should go to our seats. More and more are coming." The room was already quite full. Not many masters were still missing.

"Yes. Don't forget to put your one on." The dark haired master said and pointed at Hisaos neck. "Just to remember them. You are seat two after all."

Hisao nodded and pulled a golden chain out of his pocket. Just like Master Aljunis it had the sign of the Ten hanging on it. He put it on and went to his seat. A few minute later the all the master had appeared to have arrived.

The masters were talking to each other and it was loud enough that no one seemed to hear the stone door on the side of the wall open. One of the reptile like messengers of the council had stepped out and clapped his hands once. Immediately everyone became silent. He cleared his throat before he raised his voice.

"Masters of the mage guilds of Fiore. The members of the Magic Council and first seated of the ten, Oriveus!"

The guild masters exchanged a few silent, astonished words as they heard the name of the first seated of the Ten Great Holy Mages, the probably strongest mage in the country. Hisao however began to smile. "He actually followed my invitation. It was good to ask him at all." He whispered and his eyes went to Master Aljuni's place for a second to see the man's reaction. After the messenger had finished talking he stepped aside and the announced men and women entered the room and sat down at the table on the short side of the room. As everyone had sat down and the masters were silent again the chairman stood up.

"Masters of the magic guilds of Fiore." He began. "Thank you for following the call to Era. In the name of the Magic Council I welcome you and especially Lord Oriveus who decided to join this meeting today." He nodded into Oriveus's direction. The first seated was a man in his fifties. His short hair and his beard were more grey than brown, his deep blue eyes wandered through the rows of mages until they stopped at Master Hisao. The two looked at each for a moment. His long black and silver coat rustled as he stood up and looked at the chairman.

"It is a pleasure." He said with a smooth voice and sat down again, carefully watching Peristia Heart's master.

"Ladies and Gentleman, I am sure you are as interested in the reason why we came together today as I am. That's why I will now give the word to the one who called out this meeting: Master Hisao Peristian of Peristia Heart. The word is yours…" he said and sit down.

Master Hisao began to smile and stood up slowly. He walked over to the podium in the middle of the room and cleared his throat. "Thank you." He began calm and reserved. "My name is Hisao Peristian. I am the third master of the guild Peristia Heart in the south west of Fiore and second seated among the Ten Great Holy Mages… The last time I called all of you together was before the Zeref incident. I told you about a dark force of magic, gathering to attack us. Unfortunately, I was not able to convince you back then. I hope, when the people in the future look back on this day, that they will not say the same." He made a small tension break and let the master exchange short looks and words.

"Once again," he said and raised his voice so that they became silent again, "I feel a dark force rising over Fiore. One which's extend I cannot predict. All of us… are in danger." He waited a moment and looked around. Master Aljuni had stood up. Master Hisao nodded at him and gave him permission to ask his question.

"Master Hisao. When you speak of this dark force, are you referring to the black mage Zeref and his forces?" he asked loudly so that everyone could hear.

"I do not!" was the clear and destined answer of the white haired mage and immediately the room was filled with whispering again.

"I am not able to tell you who will be the enemy." Master Hisao said now even louder.

"I am not able to tell you where he or she will strike. I can only tell you this much: If we do not react now and take the fight to them, this person will destroy us. We are standing at the edge of a war this very moment, a war against an enemy, possibly more dangerous than the killing mage Zeref." He waited. As expected many people were calling questions, to many to understand them so he waited a few moments. As the calling wasn't calming down he opened his right hand. He activated his magic and a long white staff appeared in his hand. He let the tip crush down on the ground and a deep vibrating tone echoed through the room.

"The shadows are waiting my friends. It is the silence before the storm and the dark guilds and other shadow creatures are carefully waiting for this giant to make its move… I have no definite proof for what I just told you. Nothing but my word, and I can only hope that this is enough for you. War is coming, I give you my word. The question is, will we fight alone, or will we fight it together…"

Hisao looked around. He had expected the silence but he didn't think I would have taken so long. Finally, the chairman stood up. "Master Hisao," he said, "you are a wise and highly respected mage in Fiore. I personally always esteem your advice. What do you suggest us to do?" he asked calm.

"In the case that you believe me, the most crucial point would be to find out who is standing behind this dark power. I have already sent out three of my best mages, Takao Seeken, Masaaki Yuu Veristia and Mizuki Soramillion who are right now on a ship from Kitiro to Hargeon and are searching for them. I would hope for the help of the guilds and the council's forces in order to do so, to find out about their plans and to prevent and finally crush them with the combined strength of the Fiore!" He finished and the mages appreciated him with their applause.

"I think we have heard enough now!" said the chairman. "If no one has anything to say anymore I would ask every person in the room who is legit to vote to stand up!" He looked around. As nobody did he nodded at Master Hisao who turned around to leave the podium as someone stood up. It was one of the Counsellors. He sat at the right end of the table. He had long black hair and wore the long white coat of the Counsellors. Underneath he wore completely black clothes, except two silver steel bracers. He had a scar under his eye, which reached from his ear to his nose. Master Hisao and Master Aljuni exchanged a short worried look.

"Counsellor Diaphtora, you have the word…"

"Thank you..." he said bowed a little. "I should introduce myself. My name is Diaphtora Arota, I am the latest announced Counsellor and replace the highly respected Counsellor Catonius. Before that I acted as a commander of the rune knights and earned my name in many battles against the dark mage Zeref and I am capable of the same magic as Master Hisao." He paused and mustered the white haired man in front of him.

"Master Hisao, I appreciate your life long loyalty and your wisdom. The fact that we did not listen to your warnings in the past was a grave fault, we all know that. However, time does not pass away unnoticed and we all know that the older a person gets, while his wisdom may increase his senses work in the opposite direction. Please do not take this as an offense Master Hisao…" he added fast as he saw the reaction on the elderly man's face. "but I wonder. We use the same kind of magic, so we should both be able to feel the same, am I correct?"

"That should be the case…" responded Hisao and tried to keep calm.

"Then why do I not feel anything of what you are presenting us here?" he said and looked around. Hisao opened his mouth to give an answer but the young Counsellor continued. "Master Hisao, I have another question. What did it feel like when Zeref attacked us? Back then you definitely were in best possession of your senses and powers. Could you describe us what you felt?"

"It felt like the hours before a summer storm. You feel the pressure and the heat. You hear the roaring thunder and see the clouds rolling towards you when you close your eyes." Answered the mage.

"And what does it feel like now?"

Hisao mustered the black haired man. In the young man's eyes was an expression of amusement. "It feels like a mist. Wavering around our feet."

"A mist…" repeated Diaphtora slowly. "And where do you feel it? In the north, the south, east or west?"

"It is all around us. All over Fiore." Was the answer.

"Ladies and Gentleman." Said Diaphtora and he seemed to have heard enough. "I am sure that Master Hisao is totally convinced about this dark force he was talking about. I, as someone who should be able to feel the same, do not. He wants us to pull our forces together against an enemy that could very well not exist. And what will happen when we do so?" he made a small break and looked around. "We will leave ourselves open for attack. If we pull our forces together all our homes will remain unprotected against the black mage Zeref. Of course, we haven't heard anything of him in the last month but I tell you he is only waiting. Waiting for us to lose focus on him. My friends I feel something different than he does. I feel the summer storm. It lingers above the mountains south of Era… I know many of you may be sceptical since I am very young.

I would be so too. That is the reason why I did not tell you or my colleagues about this matter until now. Instead I had sent three old friends from my time as a rune knight there. I had worried that they might have been caught but this morning they returned with their news and that is why I can say I have found the hiding place of our yearlong enemy. I say let's not follow the predictions of an old man but focus on the real enemy. The one we can see clearly in front of our eyes! This time we have the advantage, let's use it and crush the black mage once and for all!" he called loudly and somehow the guild masters seemed to be fascinated. They clapped their hands and called words of agreement. "Thank you." Said Diaphtora and sat down again. The Chairman's eyes wandered to Hisao, worry laid in them. He raised his hand and everyone became silent.

"Guild masters and counsellors of Fiore" he started once again. "If no other person has something to say we will now take our decision. Everyone who will follow Diaphtoras plan please raise your hand now." Hisao looked around. More and more hands were rising into the air. Nearly everyone did.

"Now for Master Hisao's plan. Please raise your hands." Hisao raised his hand, Master Aljuni did the same, however besides them only a few did. The chairman waited a bit longer.

"Very well! Then this meeting has decided it's actions. Counsellor Diaphtora, as the law predicts I hereby give you the command over the alliances troops in order to extinguish the dark mage Zeref!" said the chairman with a solemn voice. Diaphtora stood up and bowed to him.

"Thank you, I will give my very best." He said and then face the guild masters. "As my first act as the commander over the alliances troops I call out a meeting for tomorrow at sunrise. I will give all details then and we will plan our strategy against the enemy. Until then, you are dismissed!"

Everyone stood u as he had finished talking and headed for the doors. Master Hisao stayed where he had been and stared at Diaphtora. The dark haired mage did so too and after a moment, just for the blink of an eye and evil grin went over Diaphtoras face. He turned around and headed to the door in the wall.

"That was a close one…" he whispered as he left. Soon nearly everyone was gone. Only Master Hisao, Master Aljuni, and the chairman had stayed. "I am very sorry about this outcome old friend…" said the chairman as he came over to Hisao. The old man nodded.

"I had expected something like this… I fear we will soon regret it." He answered. Master Aljuni placed his hand on his shoulder. "Well, as promised I will support you as good as I can."

"Thank you..."

"I will look what I can do as well. My powers are limited but maybe I can give you support in some way…" said the chairman immediately.

"Thank you…" responded the elderly mage and his friend left, so only the two old guild comrades were left in the room.

"So how will we go on?" asked the dark haired man.

"I do not know yet. I will contact the three this evening and tell them what happened." Hisao responded.

"You think they are alright?"

"Of course. They are strong you know? In a few years HE may have surpassed me if he manages to control it."

Master Aljuni laughed silently. "Don't you think you overestimate him a little bit?" he asked.

"No definitely not." Was the answer. He leaned against the frame of the window and looked outside. "They have grown up and especially he got a huge potential left in him. I can't say how much his power will grow when he learns to control it properly. But now we should go. Come to my room tomorrow in the morning. We will then discuss everything else."

"Very well…" said the other man and pushed himself away from the window. The world flickered once again and the picture of Master Hisao disappeared.


	6. Chapter 6 - Emiko

Emiko

Masaaki sat at the bow of the old wooden ship. The fine water spray splashed in his face while he looked towards the horizon where the land had started to appear some time ago. One could see the silhouette of Hargeon. His eyes slowly moved further east where the land was covered by a deep green forest. The lightning mage wiped with one hand over his face and turned around.

"Good morning!" said Mizuki and went over to him.

"'mornin'" he responded. The young female mage mustered him for a second, then she leaned over the railing and looked to the shore.

"Is that Hargeon already?" she asked surprised.

"Yes it is." Masaaki leaned next to her. "I don't know if you noticed but tonight the wind got quite a lot stronger, so we got here much faster than we expected. It has gotten less again about an hour ago but the captain said we will reach the port around noon."

"Did you stay awake all night?" asked Mizuki and looked at his face.

Masaaki looked away. "No, not really…" he admitted. "I couldn't really sleep very well. The wind kept me awake so I went on deck and helped out and after that I wasn't tired enough anymore to sleep so I stayed awake."

Mizuki mustered him as if she didn't quite believe him. Just as she wanted to say something Masaaki pushed himself away from the railing.

"We should go and wake up Takao. After all it will not take very long until we arrive at the port." He said and turned towards the back of the ship. "If you worry about my sleep do not. I will just sleep later…" he added as he passed her by. Mizuki looked after him with a worried look in her eyes. As the blond haired mage went down the stairs into the belly of the ship he sighted relieved and looked into Mizuki's direction. After a moment he began to search his way through the load to the cabin they rented for the journey. He entered and lighted the small candle on the wall.

"Takao, are you awake?" he asked his friend who laid in one of the hammocks. The dark haired mage mumbled something as he woke up.

"What is the time?" he sighted while he rubbed his eyes.

"Don't know… sun is up and we will reach Hargeon soon. You need to get up and we should get our things packed!"

Takao sat up and looked at the mage surprised. "Already? I thought we would get there around this evening?"

"Yeah, we had some strong wind from the south tonight." His friend explained once again.

"Great, have you told Mizuki as well?"

"Yeah, she is up on deck. I'll go up again as well, I've packed already. Was up early…" Masaaki responded and turned to the door. As he wanted to leave Takao grabbed his wrist. The lightning mage turned around and gave his friend a questioning look.

"What is it? Don't think I wouldn't notice." He said seriously. "And don't tell me it's nothing, you won't get away with that, I am not Mizuki!"

The two mages stared at each other for a moment until Masaaki's eyes went to the ground and he sighted. "I really don't know. I guess it is this mission, the fighting in the past year. It doesn't let me sleep these days." He answered finally. "But don't tell Mizuki, okay? She will just be worried."

Takao mustered him for a moment. He nodded finally. "I know but you really need to get some sleep or you won't be able to do your work if needed." He said and let go of Masaaki's wrist. "And if it is more…" he added as Masaaki turned again, "tell me, we are partners!"

The world flickered and as the Fairy Tail mages could see clearly again they were on the land. The sun was going down and they were standing in the middle of a small village,

"Where are we now?" asked Gajeel confused. "This is definitely not Hargeon."

"No…" agreed Erza and looked around. "But this place seems kind of familiar."

The mages looked around. "Ah! I know!" said Lucy suddenly. "This is Akane Beach; you know the place Loke got us tickets to as we made a contract back then." She said.

"You are right." Said Gray as he recognized it as well. "It has changed quite a lot since this time."

"Yeah you are right. I wonder where the Masaaki and the others are right now…" said Erza and in that very moment the door of the building behind the mages opened and the three mages stepped out on the street.

"What a nice lady." Said Mizuki smiling as she closed the door behind her.

"Yeah," agree the blond haired mage, "but now I really am starving." He looked around and his eyes rested on a building a few meters down the street. "Over there!" he said and pointed towards it.

"Okay." Said Takao and the three went over to the building which appeared to be a small yet lively bar. The three mages sat down at a round table in a corner and ordered something to eat and to drink.

"I guess we could try to contact Master Hisao now, what do you think?" asked Mizuki and her hand slid in one of her pockets. She placed a small communication Lacryma on the middle of the table. It was covered with many fine silver patterns. The two mages nodded and Mizuki tapped against the gem which started to shine immediately. For about a minute nothing happened. "Do you think your enchantments are powerful enough to increase its range far enough?" asked Masaaki.

"They should be…" said Mizuki thoughtful. A moment later it made a zapping sound and Master Hisaos face appeared on the gem.

"Good evening Master Hisao!" said Mizuki and nodded.

"Ah Mizuki." The elderly man said. "Masaaki, Takao. It is good to see you three. Where are you now?" he asked.

"We are at Akane. East of Hargeon." Answered Masaaki.

"Ahh so you went east. Why Akane?" he asked after a moment.

"We thought about where we would go if we would be the dark mage and came to the conclusion that this place is the perfect hiding spot. The forest above Akane is far enough off from the civilisation to stay unnoticed. I is near enough to easily sack three major cities before the government could react. And on top of that there is the Thrae. Because of the lore and everything no one would ever disturb you there." Explained the young mage.

"That makes sense… Well thought." He agreed with a thoughtful voice.

"Thank you, how is it going on your side?" asked Takao. "Has the meeting taken place already?"

The white haired man sighted. "Well…" he started, "yes it did, this morning. It did not go as I hoped it would at best."

The three mages exchanged short looks. "What happened?" asked Mizuki worried.

"In the beginning everything played right in our hands." Said the elderly man. "I believe I was able to convince nearly everyone with the help of Master Aljuni, the Chairman and Lord Oriveus who attended as well. However, in the end that just wasn't enough…" He made a small break. "Have you heard of Counsellor Diaphtora?" he asked. The two boys nodded but Mizuki shook her head.

"Counsellor Diaphtora is the latest announced Counsellor. He replaced Councilman Catonius about a year ago or something like this. He is said to be quite powerful and to be really good at convincing others. Takao and I met him once." Masaaki explained.

"I heard he was a member of the rune knights before. Commander if I am correct, famous for his analytic abilities." Takao went on.

Hisao nodded. "Yes that is correct. The important matter however is, that he is capable of using the same magic as I do."

Masaaki, Takao and Mizuki exchanged a short look. "Well basically what he did was to insinuate that my senses have grown dull. That he would not be able to sense what I felt. He asked how it felt before Zeref attacked us and how it felt now and used that against me. On the other hand, he said that I wasn't completely wrong, that there is a force rising up. He said he would now have proof that Zeref is hiding in the mountains south of Era and that it was time for us to strike against him now instead of spreading out our forces on the command of an old man's senses, leaving ourselves open for attack. Well, you can imagine what happened. In the end only Master Aljuni and not even a hand full of others voted for me and the Councils and the guilds forces will now gather in order to strike against Zeref again…" he finished.

For a few moments everyone was silent, then Masaaki his with his fist on the table. "Is this man insane?" he called with an unbelieving voice and small lightnings crackled through his hair and over his arms. "Risking the safety of his men because of a slight possibility to boost his ego and influence in the Council? There is no way he cannot be noticing this!"

"Well, it's bad for us right now Masaaki but if you look at is from another point it could be not this bad." Takao said calm. "Imagine if he would actually take Zeref down, that would be a huge victory for us all. But you are right, his reappearance definitely comes to the worst possible time for us."

"Master?" asked Mizuki as the black haired mage finished and before Masaaki could add something to it.

"Yes?" he responded.

"You said that some agreed to your plan, hat about them?" she asked.

"Well, most of them are supporting Diaphtora now since the majority voted for him. However, the Chairman promised his support, even though he can't do very much on his own, and Master Aljuni of Aurea Lion is supporting us as well." He said and began to smile a bit.

"Well then we have at least some support." Said Mizuki happy. "How will we go on now?" she asked.

"I am going to meet with Master Aljuni either tomorrow. We will discuss then together what our next actions will be. So be ready tomorrow morning but for now enjoy the rest of the evening." He said and the three ages nodded.

"Good night!"

The Lacryma went dark again and Mizuki and Takao leaned back on their seats.

"Even though we have Master Aljuni's support it will still be damn hard, don't you think?" said Takao after a while. Mizuki nodded and Masaaki grind his teeth.

"If I'll ever get my hands on Diaphtora I'll kick his ass!" he said angrily.

"Takao smiled. "If his information about Zeref is fake I'll join you!" he said. "But for now calm down and please do something against these..." he pointed at the lightnings which crackled through Masaaki's hair ass few seconds.

Masaaki grabbed into his hair. "Oh!" he said as he noticed what he meant. "Sorry…" The electricity wore of immediately and the magical pressure which had laid down upon the bar lifted again.

"Thanks…" said Takao and looked at his drink. "So how do we go on?"

"I suggest that we…" Mizuki suddenly stopped talking and looked behind Masaaki. The two boys turned around as well. The whole bar was totally silent and behind and behind the mages stood a young brown haired woman. She was about 1.70m tall and wore a long deep blue dress with a brown belt. She blushed as the three mages mustered her and began to knead her hands nervously.

"Ehm excuse me…" she said with an insecure voice. "Are you three mages?"

Mizuki smiled at her. "Yes we are. I'm very sorry if my friend here," she gave Masaaki a dark glance, "scared you, we didn't want that. He sometimes just forgets to pay attention to his use of magic." She explained and kicked Masaaki under the desk.

"Ehm yeah, sorry for that…" he said smiling. "My name is Masaaki Yue Veristia and these are my friends and partners Takao Seeken and Mizuki Soramillion. We're from Peristia Heart in the far west of Fiore." He introduced himself and the others to the young women. The people in the bar exchanged a few silent words. Takao mustered them for a moment.

"My name is Emiko. Emiko Carista." Said the young woman and bowed down a bit. "Have you come because of the request we've sent to the Magic Council?" she asked with an exited tone in her voice. Masaaki and the others exchanged a short look.

"Actually not…" said Takao after a moment. "We are on another mission and are just passing through…"

"Oh…" said the young woman and looked down to the ground. "If that is the case… I am sorry that I interrupted you…"

She turned around and was about to go away as Mizuki said: "One moment please."

Emiko turned around. "Yes?" she asked.

"I am curious." Said Mizuki. "What was this request about? I did not see one at the guild so it has to be quite new, right?"

"No it is not." Responded Emiko. "We send it nearly two months ago…"

The Peristia Heart mages exchanged a look. "What was it about?"

"Well," the brown haired girl started, "about the disappearance of people."

"Tell us more please!" said Masaaki and pointed to the seat next to his. Emiko nodded and sat down. After a moment she continued the story.

"So two months ago a small group of people disappeared from the street to the east. We had found some of their things laying around on the street so we sent a group into the forest to search for them. The day after that one of the men returned. He collapsed right at the edge of the town. He said that the group was attacked after nightfall. We decided that we definitely would need the help of the Council so we send the request, that was two months ago now and since then no one came…" she finished.

"Guys, I don't know what you think but for me this sound like something that could fit in what we are searching." Said Takao after a moment.

"I agree!" responded Mizuki nodding.

"Very well, we will help you guys." Said Masaaki and Emiko began to smile.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yes. We will accept the request and help you find out what happened to them and bring them back if it is within our capabilities!" he responded smiling.

"Thank you so much!" Emiko responded happily and the world slowly began to flicker again.

"It seems it is time for another jump…" said Levy right before the surroundings once again whirled around them.


End file.
